Your car battery stores energy that it converts into electricity via a chemical reaction process. Your vehicle uses this energy when you run your starter motor, as well as for the ignition and fuel system. Breakdown services report having a flat car battery as the primary reason most vehicle owners call them out. When you find out you have a flat battery, it’s usually at the worst possible time. Sometimes you can jumpstart your battery but there are times when you will need to call your nearest breakdown service to come out and repair or replace it, in order to be able to start your car. The reasons for a dead car battery are varied, ranging from cold weather conditions to battery age, or too much excessive strain. You can also run your battery flat by taking too many short trips too often.

Can you fix a dead battery?

There are some things you can do yourself to try and revive a flat battery, though keep in mind sometimes the only thing you can do is replace a battery that just isn’t running anymore. First, you can try charging your battery, but if it’s totally run down, you probably won’t have much success. The next thing you should try is jump starting your car. You can do this with a jump starter pack, or with a set of jump leads and another car. However, make sure you know what you’re doing before you attempt a jump start, as otherwise you could injure yourself, or cause damage to your battery or your vehicle. Even if you succeed at jump starting your car battery, it’s longevity may have been shortened, so you’ll likely have to replace it at some point in the not so far off future. If you can’t charge your battery or jump start successfully, it’s probable your battery has a serious issue. You’ll need to call out a repair service to come and assess what’s wrong if you can’t get your car to the nearest garage. A mechanic will be able to tell you whether the problem is really caused by your battery, or if it is down to something else, like a faulty alternator. If the issue is with your battery, a mechanic will be able to replace and fit a new one. This shouldn’t take too long, although depending on how busy the garage is, your car may need to be in the shop for a day or so.